The sequence starts with Wendy being tracked by the camera as
she sneaks around in fear, with a bat in her hand; a typical weapon used in
horror, trying to find Jack but he doesn't seem to be around. Still being
tracked, Wendy continues to walk and call Jacks name. At this point you can
only here the diegetic sounds of a low, volume rumble, which sounds like the wind
outside and generators in the hotel, these are also accompanied by the sound of
Wendy's footsteps. These sounds creates
a tense atmosphere and also a sense that something bad or jumpy is about to
happen. This is a key convention of horror that builds tension , which is a
popular theme amongst horror films. This
first part has all been taken in one shot which varies between mid and long
shots. The shot finally changes to a mid shot of Wendy from the front, her
facial expression suggests she is scared as her eyes are wide and she looks
worried. Her whole body is tense, her fists are tightly wrapped around the bat and
she is constantly looking around. In the same shot she walks towards Jacks type
writer. The scene then cuts and the camera is positioned at a low angle, below
the front of the type writer, allowing us to see Wendy's facial expression as
she approaches the type writer, a tense non-diegetic soundtrack builds up and
her face begins to drop. To the audience it becomes apparent there is something
wrong with what she is seeing. The shot
then changes to a close up of the sheet of paper in the type writer, this shot
is from Wendy's point of view, revealing what she discovered. Jack has written
the line 'All work but no play makes jack a dull boy' over and over again. The sequence then cuts back to a shot of Wendy
who has a look of horror on her face. She then looks to the left of the type
writer and as she does so, we get an eye-match shot of what she was looking at.
On the table is a pile of papers with the same line written again and again. After
the camera focuses on the papers, it then zooms in fast to show what is written.
This zoom technique is also used in the 'RED RUM' scene when Wendy realises the
word 'Murder' written on the door in the mirror. This could be a relation
between the two parts that are showing Wendy's realisation. Wendy then starts
looking through the mountainous pile of the type written pages. While she does
so, the sequence cuts multiple times between a low angled mid shot of Wendy's
face and a birds eye close up of her
hands flicking through the papers. As she flicks through frantically, the
length of each shot gets shorter and Wendy's breathing becomes heavier as she
shakes her head, in denial of what she is seeing. Also there is a non-diegetic screeching
sound building up and creating more and more tension. As the audience I feel
tense and keep expecting Jack to turn up. This kind of sound track is typical in
the horror genre. The sound is now picking
up in pace and volume and Wendy continues to look through the paper, the shot
changes to a different point of view. For a start you see just a wall with
pictures on it. The camera then pans to the left showing a long shot of Wendy
from behind. When the camera stops
moving, half of Jack's silhouette slowly
comes into the shot as he is approaching Wendy. At this point the screeching gets louder and a strong feeling of anxious
tension builds and I, as the audience feel my heart picking up in pace as I am
not quite sure what is going to happen. This kind of shot is a typical horror
convention, showing the audience what is going on before the character knows
themselves or revealing to the audience
things the characters do not notice or see. Still in the same shot, the music
becomes quitter and almost silent. Jack
then asks Wendy if she likes what he has
written; In doing so he makes Wendy jump and scream. The non-diegetic sound then begins to get louder again as Jack
and Wendy are now just staring at each other and nothing is being said. From
that point on you can tell that Wendy is uncomfortable, scared, tense just from her facial expressions and
body language, she also begins to cry.
The camera is now tracking jack as he walks towards his type
writer as if we are looking from Wendy's
point of view. The camera stops moving
as Jack asks Wendy what she wanted, however she claims can't remember
but is struggling to get her words out. At this point there are non-diegetic
sounds that are really loud at some points and just random bursts of shrieking.
This makes me feel really on edge and creates an uncomfortable and tense
atmosphere, which is likely to be how Wendy is feeling. There is now a parallel
edit to Danny who is sat with a shocked look on his face , he has another
vision of blood rushing out the elevator doors and it seems he can hear what
his farther is saying even though he isn't anywhere near where his farther and
Wendy are. We now return back to Jack
and Wendy. The sequence cuts back to an, eye-level mid shot of Jack and as he
walks towards Wendy, the camera is tracking backwards as if we, the audience
are stood where Wendy is. As Jack becomes
angry and more intimidating, Wendy keeps
her bat at the ready and slowly tries to back her way out of the room but jack continues
to walk towards her. Wendy comes to the bottom of the stairs and slowly begins
to walk up the stairs but still facing jack as he continues to walk towards her.
Wendy makes her way up the stairs, jack
follows and his angry and somewhat psychotic mood escalates. Throughout this
entire section, the shots are constantly changing between Jack and Wendy and
the camera is continuously back tracking Jack as he walks forward and also
tracking Wendy as she walks backwards. The pair get almost to the top of the
stairs and Jack is asking Wendy to give him the bat but she won't so, he attempts
to grab it from her as she swings the bat trying to get Jack to back off. As
Jack again tries to grab Wendy, she smacks his hand with the bat and then
smacks him around the head with it. The camera is now at a low angled long shot
as Jack stumbles back and falls down the entire flight of stairs which knocks
him out, leaving him lay at the bottom of the stairs unconscious. There is then
a cut to a final, over the shoulder shot of Wendy looking down the stairs at
Jack who is just lay there.
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